Cambridge

What a great Wednesday! We started out early and were on the tube by about 8:30 a.m. It was a mad house! As we got nearer and nearer downtown London the car we were in got more and more crammed. Luckily as we approached King’s Cross / St. Pancras station (our 16^th station on today’s route) some people had left and there was room to breathe again.

at King's Cross train station

Amber had already made us train reservations to/from Cambridge. Apparently it’s about 21 pounds each to ride the 60 miles north to Cambridge, and free to return. I love that idea! We had the express train both ways and it was fast and wonderful. Speed signs along the way said 70 or more mph. Zoom!

Once in Cambridge we took a local bus into the heart of the city. Cambridge is a “university” city and it happened to be between terms, so many of the 31 colleges strewn throughout the city were closed. That meant that there were not as many places we could get in to, as we’d hoped.

Our main goal of the Cambridge visit was to see the King’s College Chapel – which we did. It’s amazing inside, and we were allowed to take photos. This chapel contains the largest single span of vaulted roof in the world and 26 stained glass windows from the 16^th century.

Ceiling

After that we wandered around the city. There are about 100,000 people living in Cambridge, with (we calculate) about 100,000 bikes. The only people who were not riding bikes were the tourists. It was nice to be out of London walking in a small town and just seeing the sites.

a few bikes in Cambridge

We were assaulted time and time again by students offering “punting cruises” – quasi-Venice canal type rides on a little stream that goes through town. We declined, time and time again.

Amber and Patrick visited a small children’s bookstore and I hit up the homemade fudge store.

dangerous store

The train ride back into London was uneventful and Patrick and I each enjoyed an “Upper Crust” fresh baquette – mmmmm. To quote Patrick: “it was f***ing awesome”. This was after Amber and Patrick had each had one for an early lunch too!

baby ducks

 

a bit of a breeze

 

Worst Train Ride Ever?

The 4.5 hour train ride from Edinburgh to London was fast, efficient, modern, clean, quiet, and well priced.  And yes, it was one of the worst rides I’ve ever had.

I woke up that morning feeling, well, let’s put it delicately:  unwell.  I skipped breakfast and spent most of the early hours in my room. But, time and pre-paid tickets wait for no one, so the three of us packed up and drove in to Edinburgh.  I have to give Patrick and Amber TONS of credit – I don’t know how they managed to drive through all the city streets and navigate as well as they did – and all with unknown city/street names AND driving on the left side. It was amazing.

Fake Smile on Train

We got to the Waverly train station just fine and it was a bit zoo-ish, but OK.  I found some fresh orange-mango juice that was pretty good. We got on the train just fine (reserved seats thanks to Amber) and headed south.  And that’s when the unwellness got added to with some train sickness. Ug.  I was facing backwards for a bit but couldn’t take it. I tried to sleep but had to keep looking outside to keep the sickness down.  Here’s a picture of me with a nice fake smile!

After what seemed to be an interminable train ride (and I’d so looked forward to it!) we got to the main train station in London – and now it really was a zoo!  My god, the people and noise and signs everywhere. Somehow Patrick and Amber drug me on to the Picadilly underground line and we went through 18 stops to get to our hotel stop.  Did I say:  add “tube-sickness” too?  I was miserable.

Amber and Patrick hauled my luggage and I hauled my sorry butt to our hotel.  I fell into bed at 7:00 pm and felt crappy all night. Ug.  I did get some sleep and the bed was nice and big. I have to admit, it was the biggest room I’d had in some time, it was a “real” hotel and not a B&B – I have to ask myself: why did we stay in B&Bs?